


Libraries, Lilies, (Love) Letters

by slotumn



Series: His Majesty and Young Lady [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Age Difference, Courtship, Crushes, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Older Man/Younger Woman, Slow Romance, Soft Claude von Riegan, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, probably a no slithers au, very light
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: "What's your name, little girl?" he asked, after observing her for a while."Don't call me a little girl. That's rude.""I can't call you something else if you don't tell me your name, little girl."---King Khalid of Almyra, the young daughter of Count Ordelia, and the things that bring them together.
Relationships: Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan, cyril/hilda (background)
Series: His Majesty and Young Lady [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055333
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17
Collections: Slotumn Portfolio





	1. Rock Candies and Gardens (9, 29)

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes, you gotta make the age difference between your OTP 20 instead of 2.5. That's it that's the reason why I began writing this.

The meeting with Leicester Alliance's nobles had finished early, freeing up Friday and the weekend before the second week of the conference began. Khalid sat in his bedroom, contemplating the next optimal move to both advance his agenda and annoy that pompous Count Gloucester guy, when something skittered by. 

Specifically, a little girl, who wore a frilly Fódlan-style dress and probably had no business wandering around in the innermost chambers of the Almyran royal palace. She looked so determined, though, so he didn't say anything, and simply opened up his journal to start writing. 

About an hour later, she passed by again, going in the exact same direction she was going before. 

Then again. 

And again. 

She looked just about ready to cry, the third or fourth time around. 

"Are you lost, little girl?" he called out, in Fódlanese. 

"I-I'm not lost!" she immediately insisted, turning around to look at him. "I was on my way to the library."

"I'm afraid you're quite a ways from there," he said. "It's on the opposite side of the palace."

"Yes, I know."

She clearly didn't. 

"Want me to walk you there?"

"No thank you. Mama and Papa told me to not follow strangers."

Khalid contemplated that for a second, then opened his desk drawer to rummage through it. 

"I have candy," he said, holding up a bottle full of nabat. 

The girl crossed her arms and huffed. "Do you think I'm so immature as to be tempted by sweets?"

He shrugged and began lowering the bottle back into the drawer. "Well, it's fine if you don't want it, I guess I'll just eat it myself—"

\---

Several minutes later, they sat at the library, the girl happily eating yellow rock candy as she flipped through some books. 

"What's your name, little girl?" he asked, after observing her for a while.

"Don't call me a little girl. That's rude."

"I can't call you something else if you don't tell me your name, little girl."

She raised her head to glare at him, before answering, 

"Lysithea. Lysithea von Ordelia."

Ah, Ordelia. That was the one that kept being pushed around by Gloucester earlier, Khalid immediately thought. It seemed that the meek count's daughter came to Almyra with him and his wife, for some reason. 

"Won't your parents be worried about you wandering around in the palace all by yourself?"

"My parents are busy," she replied. "It's much more productive for me to use my time studying instead of bothering them."

Khalid glanced at the book across the table. "Can you read Almyran?"

Lysithea took the book and set it upright, hiding her face behind the cover. 

"...It's possible to learn plenty just from the illustrations."

"I can teach you Almyran, if you'd like."

The book lowered slightly, revealing a pair of narrowed pink eyes. 

"Who are you, anyway?"

Probably should have asked me that a lot earlier, he thought, but kept the commentary to himself. 

"You can call me Khalid."

"Khalid...like the king?"

The girl clearly didn't get that he was the king, so he decided to play along.

"Yeah. It's not exactly an uncommon name."

Lysithea raised the book back up, then reached out with one hand to take another piece of candy. Little crunches filled the air for a few seconds as she chewed on it, perhaps thinking about his offer. 

"...Okay," she finally replied, after clearing her throat. "I suppose you can teach me."

\---

It only took an afternoon for her to master the alphabet. Lysithea was a fast learner, even if one took into consideration that children were much more malleable than adults. 

"Well, well, you really are something, aren't you, Lysithea," he chuckled, fluffing her hair. 

"This much is nothing," she said, looking rather proud. "Now stop doing that and tell me what's next."

"Let's see, what's next is..." Khalid continued to pat her hair, thinking. "...a break."

"What?"

He stood up, closing the book. "We go and take a short walk in the garden. It's bad to study too many hours in a row."

"Isn't it worse to purposefully distract yourself in the middle of concentrating?"

"Geezers like me run out of fuel faster than fresh young ones like you, you see," he shrugged. "So please, entertain this old man a little, won't you?"

Lysithea rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, fine," she said, also standing up. "But afterwards, we get right back to studying, got it?"

"As you say, princess~" Khalid sang. 

When he picked her up and put her on his shoulder, she let out a yelp of surprise, but didn't struggle. 

\---

"...So pretty."

Khalid squatted down next to Lysithea, observing her face rather than the flowers. 

"Do you like lilies?"

"They're my favorite," she answered, still transfixed on the flowers. "We have wild lily fields back home."

"I see."

Lysithea's face relaxed, as the sweet scent drifted in the air. Soon, there was a small smile on her face, soft and innocent, as a girl her age should be. 

Almost unconsciously, Khalid picked a single blossom and tucked it behind her ear. 

"W-wait, you can't just," Lysithea whipped her head around, one hand on the lily to keep it in place. "Are you allowed to do that...?"

"Picking the flowers, you mean?" Khalid shrugged and waved his hand. "It's fine, I know the gardeners. They won't complain, especially when it suits you so well."

He swore that Lysithea blushed a little, upon hearing that.

"Well, in that case..."

She quickly ran to the tulip section, came back with a yellow blossom in her hand, and tucked it behind his ear as well.

"...this should be okay, too, right?"

Khalid couldn't help but laugh. 

"Of course."

\---

The break at the garden ended up running longer than intended, between Lysithea's curiosity about all the exotic plants she never saw back home, and Khalid's own eagerness to explain their characteristics and uses— excluding the less savory parts about poisonings and assassinations, of course. 

They walked right into the orchard connected from the gardens, too, and upon seeing how her eyes lit up upon seeing the late spring cherries and raspberries, he had no option but to pick and feed them to her, wiping the smudged juice on the corners of her mouth with his own sleeves. 

Before long, the sky turned dark as the evening settled in, and Lysithea began yawning more often, wobbling from sleepiness until he had to pick her up once again.

"I can...walk on my own," she insisted, with yet another yawn. 

"I'm sure you can," he hummed, "but my legs are longer, so this is going to move the both of us along faster."

"Where are we...going...?"

"To your room."

"But we still have to study," Lysithea mumbled. "At the library...the books..."

"The books aren't going anywhere," he assured. "And your parents will be worried if you aren't back by evening, won't they?"

A tiny sigh and a wriggle.

"...But I wanna stay with you longer," Lysithea said, pouting and snuggling into his chest.

Khalid suddenly wondered if he was already at the age to get heart problems. 

"I'm not going anywhere, either," he managed to reply.

"So I'll see you again...?"

He held her a little tighter. "Mhm."

"Tomorrow...?"

"If you want," he said, voice softer as to not interrupt her drowsiness. "How about I come pick you up in the morning?"

That answer finally seemed to satisfy her, as Lysithea nodded and closed her eyes. 

Khalid took a long, careful look at her face before setting off towards the guest chambers, unable to wipe the smile off his face. 


	2. Saffron Scent and Bazaars (10, 30)

Lysithea stared at the mirror with a determined glare, and put her hands to her hips. 

Today, she was going to do something important. 

Today, she was going to rectify a very embarassing mistake from last year, during the first Leicester-Almyra summit, where she missed the greeting feast because she was sleepy, didn't get to see what the king of Almyra looked like, and ended up making a fool of herself in front of him for a whole weekend without realizing who he was (at least, not until the very end). 

Khalid didn't mind all that, of course, apparently having been entertained by her past self's childish shenanigans, but this was a matter of pride. 

Because back then, she was nine, but now, she was ten— her age was in double digits now, and it simply wouldn't do for the neighboring king to think of her as a silly child based on the things she did last year. 

This year, she was ready, having practiced her Almyran with the books he gave her, as well as looking over the maps of the palace to make sure she wouldn't get lost. 

This year, at the greeting feast, she was going to make a second impression good enough to wipe away the first, and leave the king of Almyra in awe. 

\---

"Why, if it isn't Lysithea! Have you grown a little taller? Or is that just my imagination?"

"L-let me down!!"

Her plan failed almost as soon as she walked into the grand hall. 

Upon spotting her family, Khalid strode right over to greet her parents, as he did with the other lords; but right when she was about to curtsey and say the greeting she'd practiced hundreds of times, he lifted her right off the ground and onto his shoulders, where the air suddenly smelled like some strange combination of hay and honey. 

"Eh, must be my imagination— you're still as tiny as I remember," he said, spinning around for a good measure. 

"I did grow! You must be misremembering if you think I haven't," she said, indignant, but then remembered to add, "Your Majesty."

Khalid chuckled that annoying chuckle of his before letting her down and fluffing her hair. 

"If you say so," he said, ushering her family towards the food. "At any rate, we've got plenty to eat today, so dig in— and not just on sweets! Gotta have a balanced diet, if you wanna grow, hm?"

"I don't need you to," Lysithea paused and cleared her throat, upon catching herself speaking too informally, "I mean, there is no need to be concerned about such things on my behalf, Your Majesty."

Khalid raised an eyebrow, but soon had to turn his attention to the Edmunds entering the hall. Lysithea wrecked her head, trying to remember what she'd intended to say to him before he threw her off, and came up blank; so she gave a quick curtsey and scurried off, deciding to restrategize for rest of the conference, and ignored the hearty, amused laughter behind her. 

\---

"You didn't write to me much," he said, after sneaking her off to the balcony with her parents' permission. 

Lysithea quickly licked the syrup from zulbia off her fingers and replied, "I didn't wish to bother you, Your Majesty."

Khalid looked surprised as he picked her up casually (again!), bringing their faces mostly level with one another. 

"Trust me, of all the things that make my job bothersome, your letters wouldn't be one of them," he said. "Besides, practice makes perfect. Can't get better at Almyran without writing it a lot, right?"

"I did practice," she protested. "I know how to ask for directions now!"

"Oh? Can you show me?"

Despite the foreboding grin on Khalid's face, Lysithea cleared her throat, then repeated the well-practiced phrase once in her head, once out loud, asking where the library was in loud, clear Almyran.

Not missing a beat, Khalid replied— but she couldn't catch any of it, the syllables flowing by far too fast for her ears.

So once again, Lysithea was left blinking like a fool in front of him. 

"Hey, you did a really great job learning how to read and write and speak!" he chuckled. "But listening's a different matter, hm?"

She nodded, trying not to pout, since that would be childish— but her lips stuck out on their own, perhaps out of embarassment, perhaps out of annoyance. 

"Well, I have something very special for this weekend," Khalid said, lowering himself to put her back down. "Maybe it'll help you with that, but more importantly, it's going to be a lot of fun."

There was a brief and gentle pressure on the top of her head. 

"Look forward to it, okay?" 

As Lysithea held his hand and followed him back to the main hall, her head felt strangely warm and light.

\---

Lysithea's very polite, very well-reasoned requests to her parents to attend the actual conferences alongside them did not go through, so once again, she was relegated to entertaining herself. It was slightly better than last year, now that she knew her way around the palace, but even then— things got boring, fast. 

So much so that she couldn't help lingering around the conference room, tiptoeing up to the windows or peeking in between the door cracks and keyholes, in hopes of catching a glimpse of what was going on inside. 

In hopes of catching a glimpse of him, dressed regally in black and gold silk like a real king. 

Which he was, but the point being— Khalid seemed like a different person when he was speaking with the other adults. 

That also meant that he was treating her differently, as a _child_ , but looking at him in that simple beige tunic, grinning so carefreely—

"Ready to go, princess?"

—she just couldn't bring herself to be offended.

\---

"Saffron. They make this from autumn crocuses," Khalid explained, holding a container of red spices. "Precious stuff, because there are only three pistils per blossom."

Lysithea leaned forward to sniff it, trying to better distinguish it from aromas of all the other spices surrounding them in the bazaar. It smelled familiar, somehow; sweet and earthy and leathery, just like...

"It smells like you," she finally said, blinking and looking up at him, "Your M—"

Khalid put an index finger over his lips in a shushing motion before leaning down and whispering,

"Shh. Don't call me that. Right now, I'm just Khalid."

It must have been because he didn't want to draw attention to himself in the middle of the market with so many people, she told herself, as they moved onto the fabric bazaar. 

"The silk here is from the Far East..."

He brought her here because he wanted her to see the all wonderous things she usually wouldn't get to see, she knew. 

"...where we get the stationery and books in the palace."

This was a great learning opportunity— she really had to concentrate on all the things he was explaining, on what the merchants said as he bought samples of their products to show her. 

"Write to me with this, won't you?"

All she could look at was his eyes, twinkling as he handed her a bundle of parchments, quills, and ink. 

\---

After returning home, Lysithea began writing to him almost every week, practicing and editing over and over again on cheaper paper before she dared to lay a drop of ink on the parchments she brought back from Almyra. 

Khalid replied to every one of them, his letters just as detailed as hers. 

_They call autumn the season of reading, don't they? A clever young lady like you must be doing plenty of that, so I've included some ribbon bookmarks for you to use. Beware, the charms attached at the end aren't candy! Don't eat them!_

_-Looking at the crocuses, Khalid_

Whenever she read them, his voice kept speaking the words out loud in her head, gently teasing and warming her cheeks like the late spring sun. 

And if she concentrated hard enough...

_P.S. It's only been a few months, but I already miss you, little friend of mine._

...the letters carried his scent, subtle and soft and nourishing her anticipation for the next year. 


	3. Pressed Flowers and Saltwater Lake Breezes (12, 32)

"How come you haven't married yet, Your Majesty?"

Lysithea's question took him by surprise, so much so that he almost crushed one of the blossoms they were to make a pressed flower out of.

"Where did that come from?" Khalid asked right back, partially to deflect and partially because he was genuinely curious. 

Lysithea looked away. "Nowhere in particular. I'm just curious, that's all."

 _Ah, preteen girls, enigmatic as ever,_ Khalid thought, tapping his fingernails against the table. 

That being said, it wasn't exactly a strange question to ask; Almyra or Fódlan, a member of the royalty (especially a monarch) being unwed into his thirties was highly unusual, even abnormal. And it wasn't as though his advisors hadn't tried to pressure him about it— they did, up until his mid-twenties, but after he rejected about fifty proposals without so much as glancing at the candidates, they gave up and settled for exaggeratedly sighing and shaking their heads from time to time instead. 

Logically, Khalid understood where they were coming from. He didn't have any nieces or nephews, and definitely no siblings (not _anymore_ ), to pass the crown onto; were he to die of some unforseen causes, a war of succession between his relatives would be almost inevitable.

Emotionally, however...

...what could he say, old habits (trauma and trust issues from repeated assassination attempts and betrayals) died hard. 

But Lysithea didn't need to hear such things. 

"Well, marriage isn't a decision you make lightly," Khalid finally began, after clearing his throat. "Your spouse is someone you'll wake up and fall asleep with every day, for the rest of your life."

"Yes, I know that," she said, sounding rather irritated. "There's no need to state something so obvious."

"They're also the first person you confide in, first person you share your thoughts and plans with, and vice versa," he continued. "They're someone you...combine your life with."

 _That_ made her pause and look at him once more, blinking her eyes. 

"...Someone to combine lives with," she repeated, softly. 

"Yep. Being married means living for each other as much as living with each other. It means..."

Khalid stopped tapping the table, surveying the blossoms laid in front of them before fixing his eyes on the foxgloves— Mother's favorite.

What did she always say? 

"...loving and believing in not just each other, but also the future you'll build together."

Silence. 

For a moment, Khalid wondered if this topic was too much; as clever as Lysithea was, she was only twelve in years and looked younger in appearance— definitely not old enough to truly feel the weight of such matters, even if some nobles arranged marriages for their children around that age. 

Much to his surprise, though, the next thing she said wasn't a semi-confused "I see," but rather:

"What kind of future do you want to build, Your Majesty?" 

This time, it was his turn to blink in surprise. 

Upon taking another quick glance at the table, two blossoms caught his eye— a yellow lily and a deep purple tulip. Khalid took the two, laid them on the paper next to each other, then covered it with another piece of parchment.

"The future I want to build," he said, closing the book cover, "is one where nobody has to suffer for things beyond their control."

\---

For most of the visit afterwards, Lysithea was unusually quiet and reserved. 

Just last year, she was very much sassy and energetic in that way of hers, shooting back at his remarks and bouncing behind him where he led the way; now, she seemed to prefer silence and stillness as she read next to him, small shoulders pressing into his arms while her eyes were fixed on the page. The weather itself seemed to be accommodating for this sudden change, raining through most of the meeting and forcing them to stay indoors.

One afternoon, Lysithea fell asleep leaning against him, then gradually toppled and slid sideways until her head was on his lap. Khalid didn't want to disrupt her, so he stayed still, stroking her hair and singing the low Fódlanese lullaby his mother used to sing.

"...Khal...Your Majesty...?!"

When she opened her eyes, she practically jolted back upright, eyes wide, shoulders raised, and face flushed. 

"Ugh, how could I— I mean, I didn't mean to— darn it!"

"Now, now, it's alright," he chuckled. "This isn't exactly the first time you've fallen asleep in front of me. Remember the first time we met?"

The reminder only turned her even redder. 

"...I was nine back then," she mumbled. "A child."

"Hm, just like you are now?"

"That's not— !!!"

Lysithea turned away, making a frustrated noise before tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around it. 

She stayed that way and refused to turn back around until he offered her plenty of sweets; and even then, she didn't speak or look at him in the eye for rest of the afternoon, stuffing her cheeks round with candy while her lips stuck out in her signature little pout. 

_Adorable_ , he amusedly thought, and pushed back the observation that had an unwitting bystander had seen her reaction, they just may have mistaken her for having a crush on him.

\---

The rain finally stopped the day before Lysithea and her family would leave; so Khalid decided to take the opportunity to bring her along on a wyvern ride, now that she was finally tall enough to ride on the saddle. 

"No need to be scared, Lyssie, I'm right here."

"I-I'm not scared!" 

She sat in front of him on the saddle, back upright and hands holding the reins in a white-knuckled grip. They relaxed once he gave gentle strokes over her fingers; not long afterwards, she let out a breath alongside a small "Ready," and they finally took off towards the cool, greyish sky.

"Fast— !!"

The prairies were usually Khalid's favorites to fly over for recreation, the flat ground passing by adding to the sense of thrill and utter carelessness.

But something about the weather that day— and something about being with _her_ — made him want to look at a different scenery, for a change. 

"Leyla, turn," he said, pointing north.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

They flew in silence for most of the trip, simply taking in the gusts of cool breeze against their faces, the endless trees and grasses below, the little movements and hitching breaths from one another—

"Oh—"

—and finally approached a pool of pure blue, extending all the way into the horizon. 

"This is the Verka Sea," Khalid explained, one hand wrapped around Lysithea's small waist as they circled above. "Technically, it's a large saltwater lake, but you wouldn't be able to tell from here, right?" 

Lysithea didn't respond, obviously too distracted by the sight below.

Khalid smiled to himself and began a descent just sudden enough to elicit a surprised yelp. 

"Wha-what was that for?!" she exclaimed, slightly twisting in her seat to express her discontent once the ride was steady again. 

"There are seals living here," he said, still grinning. "You like cute animals, right? It would be a shame to come here and not see them up closer~"

She didn't protest or deny that statement as they glided down towards the ground, the sounds of wind and gulls complimenting the slightly cloudy sky.

\---

"...Your Majesty."

As it turned out, though, their one-day trip to the Verka Sea had some unfortunate side effects on him the day after. 

"Hm? What is it?"

Lysithea fidgeted, not looking at him. "Remember what we talked about the other day? While we were making pressed flowers?"

_'...haven't married yet?'_

His chest felt even tighter than it already had since the previous evening, but Khalid kept his smile and replied, "Of course I do."

The girl continued to avoid his eyes, but tentatively reached out to touch one of his hands several moments later. 

"I've been thinking," she began, "about the future I want to build."

 _Sea breeze,_ he told himself. Surely he felt weird because he took too much sea breeze to the face yesterday— something about how your stamina just isn't the same anymore, once you pass thirty. 

"Oh? Did you come up with an answer for it, by any chance?"

Much to his surprise, she nodded. 

Then she squeezed his hand, and finally, looked up at him, cheeks slightly rosier than usual. 

"I want to build a future where nobody has to suffer...and everybody can dream of the future, just like we do." 

It was a brilliant answer.

A beautiful and concise answer that described what he wanted better than himself.

Hearing it said like that, while she looked at him like that, making such an innocent face like that, made every gear in his head grind to a halt.

"...That's all!" Lysithea said, a little too loudly, as she released his hand and jumped backwards. "That's...all I had to say. Your Majesty. Thank you for having us again this year."

"Of course," was what Khalid managed to muster up in response.

His feet were fixed onto the ground long after she curtsied and ran off, just like the blossoms securely pressed between the heavy pages back in his room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes:  
> -The Verka Sea is based off the Caspian Sea  
> -Khalid is a genius politically but a moron emotionally


	4. your side, no matter what (15, 35)

The Officers Academy was livelier than usual this morning, as the staff cooked up unusually large portiond of meals and hung up decorations and the students ran around, whispering excitedly. Lysithea managed to stay more collected than most of her peers, but it would've been a lie to say she wasn't looking forward to the event just as much. 

One would usually think that the event in question was the winter ball, but it was currently late spring— over half a year away from Ethereal Moon. 

No, the preparations and the buzz was for none other than—

"Woah, are those white wyverns?"

"A whole flock of them!"

"I hear only Almyran royalty and their aids can ride those, so that must be—"

The students' chatter was cut off by the blaring of trumpets at the gate. 

"His Majesty, King Khalid of Almyra has arrived," came a booming voice. 

Lysithea and her classmates watched from a distance as Archbishop Rhea, Seteth, and the Knights of Seiros walked out to greet the emissaries. They exchanged a few words, probably something like, "We're rather early today, aren't we," and "Quite, but the preparations for the banquet are coming along well," and "A banquet? My, how considerate! You have my thanks."

Then, after nods on both sides, they began making their way elsewhere, probably to the guest chambers—

"Oh! W-was that at us?"

"Don't see any other crowds around here."

"Yeah! And what do you know, the King of Almyra is a real looker~"

"Hm, I don't know, I think the big guy with the beard and the scar is hotter."

"It is far too early for this, you two."

—but not before grinning and waving in their direction, which caught Lysithea by surprise. 

Upon seeing her flinch, Hilda giggled and poked her on the shoulder. 

"What do you think, Lysithea?"

"About what?"

"About the king, of course! You know him personally, don't you?"

And with that, all of the eyes in the area were suddenly on her.

"Woah, personally? As in, you're... friends with him?"

"How did that happen?"

"Did he give you food?"

Lysithea sighed and kneaded her temples. Of course her friends would be curious about it, and they certainly didn't have any ill intent, but—

_"Trust me, of all the things that make my job bothersome, your letters wouldn't be one of them."_

_"Write to me with this, won't you?"_

_"No need to be scared, Lyssie, I'm right here."_

_'It's only been a few months, but I already miss you.'_

—there was absolutely no way she was telling them all the details. 

On the lighter side, she didn't need to be badgered and teased for rest of the school year about her "friendship" with the neighboring king, and on the heavier side— there was a good chance that some nobles who disliked the recent diplomatic improvements between Almyra and Fódlan would attempt to get dirt on him through her.

After contemplating what to say for several seconds, Lysithea settled on the good old, tried-and-tested half-truth: 

"He offered to teach me Almyran a few years ago so I could translate Fódlanese magic textbooks for his library, and vice versa. It's an academic thing."

That seemed to satisfy most of them, as they nodded and said,

"Ah, of course, of course."

"Child prodigies, huh? I guess some people really are built different."

Normally, she would have retorted to the comment about being a "prodigy," saying that it was a matter of effort, not talent; but today, she decided to let it slide and excused herself, making a short detour to the greenhouse to water the yellow tulips and saffron crocuses that grew beside the white lilies.

\---

"Are ya here to sign up for the seminar?"

Lysithea turned around, quill still in her hand. 

"Hello, Cyril. And yes, I am," she said, scribbling her name on the parchment before passing it onto her classmate. "Archery and flying aren't my main focus, but it's not every day that one gets to learn from the king of Almyra."

He nodded. "Sure isn't. I'm sure you'll catch on fast, though."

It took a few seconds before Cyril remembered to write his surname down— al-Gozihr, granted by Khalid to all child soldiers and orphans who were involved the border conflict, as part of the reconciliation project by Almyra and the Duchy of Goneril. Once that was done, Lysithea took a sweeping glance over the list one more time, just to see who her classmates during the seminar would be, and noticed something rather unusual. 

"Not a lot of exchange students signed up," she commented— meaning Almyran exchange students.

"He's not quite as exciting to them, I guess," Cyril shrugged. "Or rather... they just straight up don't like him."

"Ah. Right."

She forgot, sometimes, but Khalid had his share of political enemies back home; the right enemies, as far as Lysithea was concerned, since most of them were corrupt nobles, but it was also those same nobles who could afford to send their children abroad to study here, in a last-ditch effort to maintain power under his rule, even as they hated him. Students from commoner backgrounds, like Cyril, were few and far in between, even with Duke Goneril and Khalid's continuous efforts to give out scholarships. 

_Regardless of where you go, the way people are is never that different,_ Khalid had once told her.

"Dunno if it made its way to the Fódlanese students yet," Cyril began again, "but there's actually this gossip circulating between the Almyran nobles, about why the king's here."

Lysithea raised an eyebrow. "Other than establishing ties with a major institution of Fódlan to ensure lasting goodwill?"

"Well, it's probably just them talkin' trash as usual, but... they say he's here to look for a bride."

A bride.

Lysithea's insides lurched upon hearing that word— of exactly what, she didn't know— but she kept her calm as she said,

"And what would the issue with that be, exactly? He's a king. He'll need a consort and an heir, sooner or later."

Cyril scratched his head and sighed. "They already hate him 'cuz he's half-Fódlanese. If we end up having another queen from Fódlan, there's probably gonna be a big ruckus between the aristocrats about how he's, corrupting the bloodline or selling the kingdom out or whatever."

 _Khalid_. Corrupt. Selling out. 

Her hands briefly curled into a fist. 

"Do you think it would be bad, if what you said was true?" she asked, voice sharper than intended. "If... Almyra had another Fódlanese queen."

"Nah. All that about bloodlines and heritage, it really don't matter to us commonfolk," Cyril replied, waving his hand. "As long as he keeps life peaceful and plenty, like it is now, the king and queen can be a be a couple of talking wyverns, for all I care."

Lysithea couldn't help but giggle at the last part. He certainly had a point— for all the importance the aristocracy placed on things like blood and Crests and purity, in order to gain the right to rule the populace, those things weren't what mattered, to that same populace; in the end, it was the navigation of practical matters— the ones she always aspired to consider first, just as her most admired people (or rather, person?) did— that won them over. 

"...Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't see why they're so wary of him, in some other ways," said her classmate. "I think he's a good ruler, and a part of that is that he'll do anything to make his plans go through... but that really does mean anything. He's a scary guy. Comes with the title, I suppose."

Silence. 

Her mind thought back to the wyvern rides, the walks in the gardens, the naps and reading sessions, with the amused chuckles and gentle smiles and the soft teasing jokes. 

Whenever she wrote to him and met him, she always tried to remind herself of who Khalid was— more than the frolicking hours they spent together, more than the carefree parts he wanted to show her. He was a ruler, with much power and even more responsibilities, and a tactician, who wasn't afraid to play dirty and underhanded, if he needed to. 

She knew. Of course she knew all of this, and more.

But that didn't make the Khalid she was most familiar with fake, did it? That part only she got to saw was just as real as anything else.

"Argh, look at me, standin' around gossiping 'bout stuff that's none of my business," Cyril said, shaking his head. "Hilda's been rubbing off on me."

"I don't think it would be such a bad thing if you learned a bit of Hilda's work ethic, or— lack thereof, and vice versa," Lysithea joked (a rare occurrence, but whatever Cyril had going on with his former enemy-slash-awkward scholarship co-sponsor's younger sister, a.k.a. Hilda, warranted one even from her).

"I gotta go substitute for her in the wyvern stable duties now, so another day, maybe."

"Oh. Good luck, then."

"Thanks," he sighed, then paused. "...Don't tell His Majesty that I said all that stuff. About him being scary an' all. I can't get my scholarship cut."

Again, Lysithea giggled.

"No need to worry. I'm not the tattling type," she said, lightly patting his back. "But even if I did, I'm sure Kha— His Majesty won't be so petty as to cut your scholarship over it. Besides, Duke Goneril would also need to agree with him on it, but surely Hilda wouldn't let him do something like that."

"Please. Don't."

\---  
\---

Dressing up in evening wear wasn't required for the banquet that night, but Lysithea did it anyway; she debated doing something with her hair, too, but that would have been too much, especially when Khalid would mostly be at another table, talking with the Archbishop and the other higher-ups. 

And talking he did, maintaining the dazzling grin throughout, even though she knew that he didn't have the most positive views of the Church. 

Things like this came with the job, as Cyril said earlier, but still, why did it frustrate her so much, seeing him with that practiced, artificial smile across the room instead of the slightly crooked one with crescent moon eyes he gave her up close?

More importantly— what could she _do_ about that, as well as the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach that came with the idea of him trying to find a bride here?

"Cyril, say _ahh~_ "

"I can eat on my own, Hilda."

"Aw, but your king is here. Don't you want to show him how amicable the relationship between the people of Fódlan and Almyra have gotten?"

"What does that have to do with you hand-feeding me...?"

And why, oh why, were her friends being like that tonight, of all nights?

"Consider it my thanks for the wyvern duties today, then! I don't mind putting in a little effort for this, when you did such a good job back there. Now, _ahh~_ "

"You should really put that effort into the things you're originally supposed to do... ahh."

Right as Hilda lovingly wiped some sauce off from the corner of Cyril's mouth with a napkin, Lysithea discreetly stood up and excused herself to go get some fresh air.

\---

The courtyard was quite empty that night, save for some cats and blinking fireflies. Cool, but not chilly breeze blew some leaves and petals around, and thankfully seemed to be blowing away some of the more unnecessary convolution in her head, too. 

Things like that always grew clearer when she was on her own. 

Or rather, it had been clear for years, but she tried to forget it, in the face of how unlikely she _thought_ it was to come true—

"Ah, how lucky of me, running into a distinguished young Officers Academy student out here," came a familiar voice. "Care to tell this old man where to go?"

Lysithea exhaled and turned around. 

"Good evening, Your Majesty," she said, then corrected to, "Khalid. And you're only thirty-five, you know."

"Only five years away from being forty! Bleak, I say, bleak," he joked, stepping closer. "But really. If there's any specific sight around the monastery I should see, I'd better go check it out now."

"You don't think you'll have time later?"

Khalid grimaced. "...Not with that Seteth fellow watching over all the meetings."

Lysithea let out a small chortle. "That's fair enough."

"He's quite helpful, mind you— the negotiations are going a lot easier thanks to him. If I was a student here, though, whew," he said, then gave an exaggerated bow. "But, yes. If our most esteemed Lady Ordelia could guide the way."

Lysithea gave a haughty little curtsey back, replying, 

"Very well, if His Majesty so insists,"

and began towards the Goddess Tower.

\---

"Well— the view up here during sunrise must be something," Khalid exclaimed, leaning against the ledge. "If I was still full of energy like you youngsters, I'd sneak out early tomorrow morning to see it."

Lysithea leaned against the ledge wall right next to him, smoothing the long skirt. 

"The jokes about your age are," she paused, briefly considering whether she should lean into the pun or not, and continued, "already getting rather _old_."

A chuckle.

"Good one, good one," he said. "But it's only fair, to make up for all the kid jokes I made about you."

She looked at him, puzzled. "You haven't stopped making them."

"Exactly! So they cancel out. Plus minus zero."

Lysithea took a deep breath, and let out the longest, most frustrated and annoyed groan possible, while Khalid's audacious self cackled next to her in amusement.

"Are you still going to treat me like a child even after I turn eighteen?" she asked. "Or when I'm thirty and you're fifty?"

"Yes, and yes."

"How about when I'm fifty and you're seventy? Or when I'm seventy and you're ninety?"

Khalid tsked. "Ah, but you see, this isn't a matter of physical aging. Because—

A large hand landed on the top of her head.

"—no matter how old either of us get, no matter how many fancy titles and regalia we put on," came Khalid's voice, now equally gentle and serious, "to me, you'll always be the strange little girl from the day you got lost in the palace, accidentally walked into my life, and changed it for the better."

Strange, she thought. The cool breeze wasn't doing anything to dissipate the heat in her head, all of a sudden. 

"...Just like how you'll always be the weird guy who gave me rock candy and showed me around the library and the garden and— became— someone very special to me," she said, softly.

"Yep," he chuckled. "We'll always talk and banter like this. Even when we're seventy and ninety."

Pause. 

"Although, I'm not sure if I'll make it to ninety— I mean, I'll try, but—"

"You _better_ ," Lysithea blurted out, or rather, commanded. "I'm not giving you an option."

Khalid turned to her, blinking in surprise, and she took a some shaky breaths to continue.

"You... you have to live long and healthy and happy, Khalid, because I—"

And her sentence cut off by a choked cry in her own throat.

Which was stupid and completely out of place, because this was supposed to be a heartwarming moment, a happy moment between the two of them, vowing that their friendship (or something more) would be unchanging and lifelong.

Yet something about the idea of one of them dying much earlier than the other—

"I don't wanna—"

—it was so stupidly, illogically, unbearably _painful_ , that just thinking about it sent an unwitting hot teardrop down her face. 

And stomping her feet and diving into his chest was such a childish reaction, she knew, but he already said that she'd always be that little girl to him, so she supposed it didn't matter too much. 

"P-promise me that you're going to live really long," she demanded, between the sniffles, "so I can— promise to be on your side, no matter what, for the rest of my life."

The damned crying didn't stop, even when he knelt down to hug her, saying,

"I will. Pinky promise."

Lysithea still wasn't sure what kind of tears they were, up until that point— sorrow, worry, frustration, relief, probably a combination of all of the above. 

But when she managed to lift her face and lean forward to kiss him, she knew that they all became happy tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, yes, the true reason what I'm writing this has been revealed: make Lysithea be the one to angst over the possibility of Claude dying significantly earlier than her instead of vice versa.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're 18+ and interested in spicier content for these two, check out the [Lysiclaude NSFW Bingo](https://twitter.com/lysiclaudensfw?s=09)!  
>   
> [Join the Lysiclaude Discord!](https://discord.gg/GZmtGbw) (Adults only for ease of moderation, please note.)  
>   
> Feel free to leave prompts/suggestions on my [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.qa/slotumn)!  
>   
> [My twitter](https://twitter.com/slotumn?s=09)  
> 


End file.
